week 3 was an in-depth look into utilities. i won’t subject you to that.

week 4 was an in-depth look into packaging. i could subject you to that речные прогулки по каналу имени Москвы. especially because i am working on a project on a bottle line packer. i could subject you to mind boggling statistics about how much beer we package and ship every week. and how fast we package and ship beer every minute.

but instead i want to tell you about how great my last weekend was.

i had a VERY important visitor. i might even venture out to say one of the most important visitors. he is the man who has had the single greatest impact on my life. he is the best person to go to for a funny story, great advice, or a big bear hug. not that i need to further introduce him, but my rascal of a father came to visit. it was the highlight of my weekend.

he made the ten hour drive down to visit me in style. as always. but unfortunately got stuck in traffic behind a pretty bad accident. so what would have been a ten hour drive became a twelve hour drive. but he was a champ and even stayed up to chat with me when he finally made it here around midnight. he must have been exhausted, but he is my dad and he is the best.

we had a perfectly lazy saturday morning. complete with good books and a delicious breakfast. Marc had to leave early in the morning to volunteer at a bike race, but Ryan and i had a great time sitting around, chatting with him. he is great to talk with. his years and experiences have developed his wisdom. but don’t tell him that. i’d hate for it to go to his head.

then we drove him the thirty minutes out to Cartersville to show him around the brewery. it was weird explaining the process to someone outside the industry. i didn’t realize how much i had learned in a short two months. the time has gone quickly.

after our lengthy walk around the plant, we meandered our way back home where i had the pleasure of a few more visitors. i have some crazy friends from college. one in particular that has a habit of making spontaneous, mildly irresponsible, and fantastic decisions. well he acted on the splendid idea to drag his brother, sister in law, and roommate down to Atlanta, Georgia from Columbia, Missouri for a Garth Brooks concert. they are awesome and ridiculous all at the same time. my time with them was short, but as always, splendid*.

*to be said in Alex’s mildly menacing, evil villain tone like he is up to no good. 

then it was out to creole for dinner. and jazz for entertainment. i think the band might have been more focused on providing comedic relief than playing jazz, but the man could play the saxophone. he managed to hold a note for over three minutes. i lost track of keeping time. he lasted longer than my attention span. although that isn’t much of a feat.

sunday was another lazy day. more breakfast. more reading. thai food. captain america: winter soldier. i like lazy days.

i had a rare pleasure on monday of meeting one of my dad’s friends and mentors. his name is Chuck Reaves. he wrote this awesome book about how to turn your ideas into actions. i now understand why my dad likes him so much. he is a mixture of logical reasoning, personal connection, useful application, and intuitive insights. so it was no shock that i greatly enjoyed his company, his opinions, and his conversation. between my dad and him, they made me think. they made me laugh. they made me consider something new. it made me genuinely evaluate ideas that i hadn’t given merit to before. i hadn’t been challenged in that way in a while. i greatly appreciate people who challenge and motivate me to be more. especially when it’s based on logic, research, and passion. those kind of people are rare and immensely influential. and time spent with such individuals is never undervalued.

my monday then concluded at the braves baseball game with Marc, Ryan, and Alaina. the game was not particularly great. the lack of postseason allure dulled most of the enthusiasm. but i will never object to a live sporting event in fair weather.

oh. and here are a few pictures of packaging to satisfy your curiosity.